rick & i had clear feelings about how we wanted the house to look. it was my job as the designer to get the house looking like that. as with any client, i spent hours researching, hunting salvage, evaluating existing pieces, sourcing green alternatives, pushing hard to be frugal & pulling it together to reflect the client’s style & character (ours!). when it came time to get it done, guess what? we didn’t do it alone.

so many hands touched our home that I had to weave them into this story. the people & companies on this list brought their expertise & talent & care to our project, & now they’re a part of this happy spot. looking through the names, i feel grateful for each person who’s blessed this home with their work.

from the beginning

architect: therese brown, henderson brown inc., 520-751-8959. what a gift to work with therese! she’s knowledgeable, open, creative, collaborative, professional, & has great aesthetics. what seals the deal is her infectious laugh.

real estate agent: peggy kusian, coldwell banker, 520-577-7433, www.azmoves.com. peggy is probably the most organized person i know & boy was it a treat to have her as our agent. after looking at several neighborhoods & houses, she told rick & me, “you want to find a house that was born fine”. thanks, peggy, for all your love & rock solid professionalism. we found our house with good bones. smooch!

interior painters: juli vaught, prickly pear painting, inc., 520-490-5672. juli is happy & lovely & just rocks the walls with color. when she noticed the sloppy installation of our new crown moulding, she had her craftsman brother, jasen, come over & teach her how to make it right. she’s so easy-going, you might miss that she just painted faster than a whole crew would. shari strode, simplicity surface design, shari isn’t taking on any projects right now, but she’s juicy painter who is completely into her clients & color!

framing: professional carpentry, 520-877-8461, www.professionalcarpentryaz.com. the owner, bob, is a great guy, but i fell hard for his seriously smart foreman, gilbert. while i was describing how i wanted angles or walls or arches to look, he was already calculating the dimensions & calling them out to his team. come on, how did he do that? these guys made the framing look easy.

fireplace materials: cantera custom creations, 520-326-6051, www.canteracustomcreations.com. they made exactly what i wanted, did it quickly, & are reasonable. sweet!

professional cleaning: rosalba aguirre, 520.730.5925. rosalba has been blessing my family with cleanliness since we met 13 years ago. she, her family & her helpers cleaned this house squeaky clean, only to watch drywall dust, mud, wood chips, grout or insulation envelop everything all over again... & she never lost her smile. she is one of the most delightful women i’ve ever known.

cabinets & closets

cabinetry: atkinson millwrights, llc, 520-792-4775.

interior closets: closet trends, 520-325-1880, www.closettrendsaz.com. quite simply, they made the closets beautifully & then installed them so carefully!

tile & stone: fractured earth, (to the trade) 520-620-6219. they’ve sourced the smoochiest tile & stone, & then back back it up with a cool gang of happy tile pros to make the job smooth. elizabeth went out of her way to get us the perfectly proportioned concrete tile & lucia’s enthusiastic efficiency was a delight.

floor tile & kitchen tile installation: casa decor tile & stone, 520-270-0278. ruben & his crew took the mountain of mushroom concrete tiles & turned them into our yummy floor with amazing speed. for the kitchen backsplash, they pieced the arabesque tiles around the curving hood so fluidly, it looks as though it was always there. true craftsmen.

electrical contractor: wells built inc., 520-751-1411. i cringe a bit when i think of how much harder i made their job. almost all the fixtures were old, & almost all of them were missing a very important part or two. since i hate it when switches & outlets are obvious, i had different colored switches & outlets all over the house (sometimes 3 colors in ONE ROOM)! they literally never complained about how crazy the job was. the sweetest touch was when mike offered to make me a doorbell cover from some old steel & it’s perfect!

hvac: chuck phelan’s heating & cooling, 520-733-6086, www.acfixr.com. chuck cares deeply that his customers are comfortable & he goes out of his way to make sure they will be. chuck found my desire for “hidden” vents & thermostats a bit confounding & his earnestness was endearing. p.s. the house cools off like a dream.

plumbing contractor: expert plumbing, inc., 520-326-5150, www.expertplumbers.com.
i had never really considered how taxing it is to be a plumber, but ryan & his crew excavated, shoveled, soldered, & connected with professional composure & accuracy. nice guys, too.

artwork: joanne kerrihard, www.joannekerrihard.com. represented by davis dominguez gallery, 520-629-9759, www.davisdominguez.com. i fell madly in love while in joanne’s studio. it would be easy to fall for joanne, she’s tall, beautiful, funny, & brilliant, but she was eclipsed by her artwork, “shipwreck with fish & roses”. i peeked at her website again today & got that fluttery, breathless feeling all over again. she’s a true delight & a major talent.

rugs: asian trade rug company, 520-326-7828, www.asiantraderugcompany.com. my sister-in-law (who’s a therapist) told me i’m a rug-a-holic & needed an intervention. it wouldn’t be such an addict if tomas didn’t have such dreamy carpets. (he’s such a brat, he knows i’m weak & still in recovery, but he’ll still show me bidjars & kurdish beauties, on purpose!) they also do the best cleaning & repairs.

fabrics: john brooks, inc.,(to the trade), 480-675-8828, www.johnbrooksinc.com. hats off to spencer! he brought the showroom to us & made it as easy as pie. marvin’s visits meant we had our very own fabric runway shows. seeing those dreamy weaves in the flesh was intoxicating. thanks, guys.